OTTAWA — Daniel Alfredsson clearly remains the city’s biggest hockey hero, but Patrick Kane played the role of Superman at the all-star skills competition Saturday.

On an entertaining night which featured plenty of skills, thrills, a record-setting slapshot from Zdeno Chara and a love-in for Ottawa Senators captain Daniel Alfredsson, the highlight was Kane’s act.

Kane, the Chicago Blackhawks star who has a well-earned reputation as the life of the party, didn’t disappoint the sellout crowd at the Scotiabank Place.

With the help of current teammate and former Senator Marian Hossa, Kane added life to a show which started a bit slowly.

During the breakaway challenge competition, Hossa raced from the players’ bench and draped a Superman cape over Kane’s shoulders. Kane, who was also donning Clark Kent-like horn-rimmed glasses, then raced towards the net guarded by Brian Elliott, the former Senators goaltender who is having a standout season with the St. Louis Blues.

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Kane dove to the ice and then passed the puck from his left glove to the stick in his right hand before tucking the puck past Elliott.

“I used to love watching the (NBA) Slam Dunk competition growing up, watching what guys would do there and I know Dwight Howard used the Superman outfit and jumped from the foul line or something,” Kane said, when asked about the inspiration for the move. “I thought it would be cool to wear it and slide down the ice like I was flying or something, like Clark Kent or Superman. I had fun with it.”

Kane was awarded the victory, based on a text vote of the fans in the building.

As colourful as Kane’s goal was, he did receive some competition from Corey Perry, the Anaheim Ducks star right winger and the Hart Trophy winner as league MVP in 2010-11.

Perry played to the youngest fans in the crowd with an inspired trick of his own. After crossing the blueline, Perry threw off his gloves and reached into his hockey pants to pull out a mini-stick. Perry then made a nifty deke on Elliott before putting the puck in the net.

“That was awesome,” Kane said of Perry’s trick. “I think it’s cool when guys throw in some different props. Some of the other guys had great moves, but when you throw props in, you’re probably going to get more votes.”

If you missed it, don’t worry. Fans are going to see a lot of both moves, again and again, on TV replays.

Ultimately, Team Alfredsson won the event by a total score of 21-12 – pulling away thanks to a strong performance in the elimination shootout competition – but the score really was irrelevant.

The performance came as advertised, an event to showcase the talents of the game’s best players, with plenty of flair to go along with it.

From the beginning to end, Alfredsson was seranaded with “Alfie, Alfie, Alfie” chants. He received a standing ovation during the introductions, with some fans waving Senators and Swedish flags.

“It’s fun, but at the same time when you’re out there, it’s a big crowd, it’s on TV, you want to perform and you want to try and beat the opponent you’re going up against,” Alfredsson said.

Alfredsson says the crowd support is “humbling” and even a tad “awkward,” considering that so many other great players were also in the building.

“It is more of a celebration and (Senators players) are getting so much credit, it almost feels like too much, to have Erik (Karlsson) and Jason (Spezza) and Milan (Michalek) here, too, from the team makes it even better for the fans here. They know hockey. They love hockey. For them to be able to see this up close is great. We’re very fortunate to have the All-Star Game here and we’re making the most of it.”

While Alfredsson personally had some impressive moments in both the shootout and hardest shot competitions – he clocked speeds of 101.3 and 101.1 on the radar gun – he couldn’t say enough about Chara’s performance.

Chara easily smashed his previous NHL record of 105.9 miles per hour.

“Chara’s shot, 108.8, that’s ridiculous,” Alfredsson said, who offered Chara a ‘we’re not worthy’ bow on the ice following the event. “I was pretty happy with mine, but obviously he’s a big guy, he’s so strong. He can use a stick that’s incredibly stiff that I can’t even flex and that’s a credit to him.”

Chara, who has gone from hero to villain in Ottawa after signing as a free agent with the Boston Bruins so many years ago, also received some warm applause from the Scotiabank Place crowd for his performance.

When the CBC’s Scott Oake asked Chara, on the ice, about his relationship with Senators fans, the big Z broke into an ear-to-ear smile.

“I had some great years in Ottawa and I wanted to break the record here,” he said.

“The fans are very passionate and they support their team. They were really great to me. Thanks for coming tonight, guys.”

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